Harvey relief package continues to grow

Hurricane aid approaches $8B

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s initial request for a multibilliondollar down payment for initial Harvey recovery efforts is growing.

Republican leaders already are making plans to use the aid package, certain to be overwhelmingly popular, to win speedy approval of a contentious increase in the federal borrowing limit.

A senior House Republican, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deliberations were private, disclosed the approach. It ignores objections from House conservatives who are insisting that disaster money for Harvey should not be paired with the debt limit increase. Other senior GOP aides cautioned that no final decision had been made, and Democrats, whose votes would be needed in the Senate, have not signed off on the approach.

A senior GOP source in Washington said Friday evening that Mr. Trump’s request to refill rapidly shrinking Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster coffers is going up by about $2 billion, bringing the total for the disaster aid package to about $8 billion.

For GOP lawmakers who support a straightforward increase in the debt limit, pairing it with Harvey money makes the unpopular vote easier to cast. Congress must act by Sept. 29 to increase the United States’ $19.9 trillion debt limit, in order to permit the government to continue borrowing money to pay bills like Social Security and interest payments. Failing to raise the debt limit would risk a market-shattering first-ever U.S. default.

“Look, some members are going to vote against the debt ceiling under any circumstances, and they want their ‘no’ vote to be as easy as possible,” said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. “The issue is not making the debt ceiling vote easier for the ‘no’ votes. The issue is making it easier for the ‘yes’ votes.”

The government’s cash reserves are running low since the nation’s debt limit already has been reached, and the Treasury Department is using various accounting measures to cover expenses.

Billions of dollars in Harvey aid are an unexpected cost that at least raises the potential that Congress would have to act earlier than expected to increase the government’s borrowing authority.

The initial package of Harvey aid would replenish Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster funds through Sept. 30.

The initial aid money would be a down payment for immediate recovery efforts, to be followed by larger packages later.